This work is the result of a rare opportunity in August 2006 to excavate the Upper Ward in Windsor Castle. In celebration of the queen's eightieth birthday, the television program Time Team Live organized three digs of which this was one. The team set out to uncover Edward III's Round Table building at Windsor. Begun in 1344 and intended to serve Edward's new secular knightly order, the project was abandoned in the late 1340s. By 1349 Edward had instead founded the Order of the Garter, one of the most significant and long lasting of Europe's knightly orders. As such the Round Table building was pulled down roughly twenty years after its construction, leaving only written evidence behind. The authors of this work, including the nearly 450 members of the dig, set about on an extraordinary effort to uncover one of England's lost monuments.

Such an undertaking necessitated an interdisciplinary approach, and this is evident throughout the text. Intertwining history, literature, archaeology, and architectural history, the authors have managed to reconstruct the Round Table from only a brief three-day excavation. With clarity the authors have weaved together a myriad of sources into a scholarly work accessible even for those with little archaeological background. Official building records, chronicles, and Arthurian literature coalesce around the excavated findings to form a vivid picture of Edward's grandiose court. My inexperience with archaeological surveying was more than apparent while reading, yet the work is written and structured to accommodate such a reader. Experts will also find this work valuable, for vast appendixes and detailed analysis are also included. It is testament to the authors’ experience with their subject that they have brought together such a study for all levels of readership.

The first of three parts details the setting for the Round Table itself. Brief histories of Windsor Castle and Edward III's early years as king provide the background for discussion of the Round Table feast itself in 1344. Following his announced plans to found such an order, Edward spared no expense on the construction of the Round Table building. By March 1344, one month into construction, 720 laborers were listed on the payroll (46). This enormous circular structure was said to measure 200 feet in diameter and was intended to seat 300 knights on a marble bench fastened along the inner wall. Further tables and benches scattered among support pillars were set to accommodate perhaps hundreds more for the festivities. The authors argue that round table events reenacted Arthurian legend as knights took on the roles of prominent characters such as Gawain, Lancelot, and Kay. Round tables appear as early as the late twelfth century in works by Chrétien de Troyes and Marie of France and in Robert Wace's Roman de Brut. Although the reenactments did not necessarily exactly replicate the tales, individuals maintained their role throughout the “production,” relenting to give away their true identity. The result, the authors suggest, was “more than a symbol of the equality of knights; it stands for the highest aspirations of chivalry as a secular equivalent to the priesthood” (72).

Edward intended the Round Table to associate his reign with that of the legendary king Arthur. The order of the Round Table, this work suggests, was further intended as a method of recruitment for the upcoming war with France. Edward, after the political crisis of 1341 and suffering a dire financial situation, may have hoped the Round Table would encourage recruitment and funding for his wars. The chivalrous glory propagated by such a plan was therefore meant to allay fears of a potentially unwise military endeavor. The authors are, however, only able to offer tenuous suggestions for why the Round Table never came into being. It is postulated that, following the victories at Sluy and Crécy, Edward no longer needed such a grandiose building or order. The resulting Order of the Garter, with a comparatively meager twenty-four members, unlike the Round Table, was intended to bolster the image of the top tier of England's elite warrior class. Military success had put an end to the recruitment crisis, and financial rewards via plunder allayed money concerns. No longer in need of a massive propaganda operation, Edward instead created a small, elite order focused on enhancing the prestige of his dynasty and his military. The authors do not explain why the building was destroyed. After investing such time and money, why would Edward have the building torn down just at the height of his popularity? Similar concerns are raised with Edward's decision to diminish the numerical capacity of his order. Again, with his success it should have been easier to enhance his prestige and attract enough membersing erected to house it. By incorporating traditional history and literature with the archaeological survey, the authors have shed light on an all too neglected area of late medieval England.